About me

Me! Matt Dearden

Hi there, my name is Matt Dearden and these pages are my Bush Flying Diaries.

Me! Matt Dearden

Flying over the ridges of Papua

Just another crazy airstrip in Papua

I started this website in 2012 to document my flying exploits with the Pilatus PC-6 Turbo Porter out here in Indonesia. As you’ll discover by reading my blog posts, I love what I do and want to share it with anyone who’s interested in reading more about me and what I consider to be one of the purest forms of flying. You can read more about how I got to where I am now on the My Story pages of this blog.

Aside from this website I’m also a columnist for Flyer Magazine in the UK and I occasionally blog for the Huffington Post when I have a spare moment. I love travelling the world and am lucky my job affords me that pleasure on a fairly regular basis; I occasionally write about my travels on this site too. I rarely shy away from a new challenge and have been lucky enough to have featured in Channel 4’s hit aviation TV series, Worst Place to be a Pilot (although I disagrees with the title!).

Worst Place to be a Pilot poster pic

Worst Place to be a Pilot filming

Worst Place to be a Pilot filming

Recently I’ve become a part owner in the UK’s only airworthy Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina flying boat. This is a totally new direction for me to take my flying but one I’m massively excited about and will be sharing on this blog each time I’m back in the UK flying her. Like most aviators, I have a keen interest in warbirds and this was an opportunity I couldn’t resist getting involved in.

Adjusting the props

Miss Pick Up – Duxford based PBY-5A Catalina

Turn practice

So please take the time to browse around the site and share any articles you find interesting with your friends and colleagues. If you’ve got any questions or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch either by leaving a comment on any of the posts or via the contact form on this site or via one of the usual social media outlets.

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20 Responses

Your videos are truly outstanding & you show your piloting skills to be exceptional when landing in essence a strip of muddy grass. An absolute inspiration watch. Really getting into your blog, keeps my passion all be it a artificial armchair based one , although have started real lessons very slowly, very much alive. Keep up this great dream.
best wishes
simon.

I totally agree with the previous comment, and will add that you are cute. Your experience is quite impressive. It reminds me a little of these pilots flying old DC 3s in Colombia to deliver goods and carry people from village to village.
From what I saw in the show, it indeed clearly isn’t the “Worst place to be a pilot” haha.
Best wishes for the future and keep on living the dream.

There is still a scheduled passenger run using a DC-3! Buffalo Airways operates scheduled round trip passenger service between Hay River and Yellowknife in the North West Territories, Canada. The service runs six days a week, year round. Would love to see you handling this legendary aircraft in the Canadian Arctic (or anywhere else).

Hi Matt,
Saw you on WPTF program ..we have DC3 flights from Essendon Airport 5 mins from my home
They do day trips to King Island in Bass Strait south of Melb
I’m going to book a trip there soon
Cheers
Craig

Some truly inspiring stuff – I’m wondering whether you’d be interested in contributing an article to our website. It would be great for prospective trainee pilots to hear how you’ve REALLY made the most of your PPL training!

Hi Matt,
Just watched your Susi air video on SBS channel here in Australia.. and love it! Truly inspired by your passion in aviation especially working in the rural terrain. Keep living your dream of life and good luck.
I look forward to watching the next episode…

Just got hooked on the show, truly amazing places to fly and push the limits of the aircraft and yourself. So much to learn about the culture and I’m sure a completely different life style. I’m a helicopter mechanic that turned down the opportunity to work in PNG and Peru for a stable family life style, but a large part of me wishes to still see the area but from the left seat of a porter… I have one question, is there going to be another season of worst place to be a pilot? Safe flying

Wow.. great flying skills Matt! Love to watch the series on Discovery Channel here in Australia.
Originally from Indo, but been living in Australia now for over 25 years..
Definitely wouldn’t be brave enough to do what you guys do!